Minka Mathers, owner of the Detroit Serpents hockey team, has asked Paige Adams to be the new assistant general manager. Paige can’t lie; with all the problems of her last job, she cannot believe Minka asked her. So all morning she has been telling herself, “You earned this. You belong here.” Working for the Detroit Serpents was risky. Not because of the demanding hours or high expectations—though those were challenges on their own—but because he played for the team. The he she was worried about is Ryker Kane, the team’s captain, and her ex-boyfriend's older brother.
Ryker hated her because she left his brother at the altar two years ago. When she thought about it, maybe it was stupid to get married during the summer before junior year. But Brendan was going to the NHL, and Paige was afraid to lose Brendan. She did anyway. Because he had been seeing her best friend behind Paige’s back. Then you include Brendan's temper and add in his injury—that's what kept him from the NHL. She’s never felt guilty about the thought. She never cheated on Brendan, nor did Paige ever badmouth him.
However, she wasn't sure what Brendan had told his family, but judging by the daggers Ryker threw at her as he glared, you could say it didn't make her look good. The GM was Gideon Strong; he had stepped in to replace Richard Mathers until Minka graduated. Ryker had issues with everything she had to say. Even bringing up she was too young for her position and may be biting off more than was possible. That her strategies may be too ambitious for her. That's when Minka jumped in, saying she was several years younger than Paige and asking if he thought she was too young to own the team he plays for.
See how Ryker rides her all the time. Even when she is trying to help him. He had no clue about Brendan’s treatment of her. Which might or might not have done any good in the scheme of things. But one important piece of information is Ryker and Paige did at one time have a one-and-done and then acted like he didn't know her. The thing that bothers me is Brendan may have used his hands and mind games against her by f-ing her best friend. But Ryker used his words in deliberately hateful, mean ways to make her pay, supposedly.
However, you can never take those words back. You or they can say, Sorry, but at some point during the relationship, those words will wind their way back to the surface, trying to puzzle it out. Good emotional book, but not one I would read again.